Life as a Spectator Sport

I've been to several of the East Coast fiber festivals by now, but this will be the first year for Rhinebeck. Strictly speaking, Rhinebeck is the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival, but because it is held in Rhinebeck, New York, it inevitably came to be referred to as just Rhinebeck. This year it takes place on October 20 and 21, and I had thought to make a long vacation weekend of it, taking my youngest, Kay, along with me. I'd drive to Baltimore on Thursday, stay overnight at Kay's house, and then we'd have an easy drive the rest of the way on Friday.

Unfortunately, my grandson, who has stayed with Clarence sometimes when I wanted a few days by myself, is now working full time and isn't available. I debated whether to call the whole trip off, but at this point I'm still planning to go. Having to take Clarence along means three nights in a hotel instead of being able to stay with my aunt in Hudson, for one thing, and it means driving straight through from here to Rhinebeck in one day, stopping in Baltimore only long enough to pick up Kay. Her bedrooms and bathroom are on the second floor, completely inaccessible to Clarence, so staying overnight in Baltimore would involve yet another expensive hotel stay. But Kay can drive a standard transmission, so she can help with the driving and let me get a bit of sleep along the way. Clarence agreed that he could stay in the hotel room by himself on Saturday and Sunday, which means he has to be supplied with sandwiches or other easy to retrieve finger foods, filled syringes of insulin, and Rescue Alert's 800 number if he needs to call me. I'm always a little apprehensive when we do that, but so far it has worked out all right.

I signed up for Blogger Bingo, which by all reports was hilarious fun last year. One commits to being either a square on the Bingo card (if you have a blog), or a player (if you don't), or you can do both. Over the two days of the festival, you look for other "squares" and mark all whom you find (squares wear or carry some identifying item with the Blogger Bingo logo on it). I added the logo to the sidebar of the blog as well.

Now I just have to start saving money for the inevitable yarn and fiber purchases, sigh.

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RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email to liz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002